Go ahead, ask someone what Periscope is. Chances are, most people will look at you quizzically, then answer, “the thing on the top of a submarine?” (At least that was our experience!)

#Truth. But, it’s also a live video streaming app that was acquired by Twitter and, as it turns out, it’s pretty fun to play with.

If you follow us on Twitter, you’ve probably noticed our “LIVE on #Periscope” tweets. Ship launched its #Periscope account in February, giving our Twitter and Periscope followers a chance to explore campus through live broadcasts. Periscope describes their mission as wanting to “build the closest thing to teleportation,” so, we figured why not? Now, even if you’re not here, you can hang out on campus!

We kicked off #Periscope with a variation of our traditional campus tour called #RaiderDayLive. Each Thursday at 4 p.m., one of our talented student tour guides takes you on a more in-depth mini-tour of Ship’s campus. This brings together the best of both worlds—our in-person walking tour and our virtual online tour.

Can’t make it to Ship? No worries! We bring campus to you. Have a question or comment for our tour guide? Great! You can ask it as you watch the live broadcast, and we’ll answer in a jiffy. Plus, you can throw some hearts our way to let us know what you really like, offer suggestions for upcoming tours, tell us where you’re from, or compliment our sweet Ship gear!

So far, we’ve showed you around Old Main, the academic quad, Kriner Diner, Seavers residence hall, and the health center. This week, senior exercise science major Abby Bogner takes you to Heiges Field House and ShipRec, our student recreation center. Ship Athletics also brings the action to you live, broadcasting baseball, basketball, and swimming this season.

Periscope brings campus to you in real time, lets you share in our events and activities, and enables you to interact with our students. Sweet.

Need a better explanation? To follow our live broadcasts, download the Periscope app on your smart phone. Follow @shippensburgu and @ShipURaiders. You’ll get a notification when a broadcast starts. When you log on, you can tap the screen to “like” something you see or hear, and hearts will appear on the screen. You also can type a comment or question, which will appear on the screen via your Twitter handle.

We love hanging out with you each week, and we can’t wait to bring you more live video from Ship! This is almost as good as being on campus—but hopefully it just entices you more to stop by for an in-person visit!